

257 




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LA 257 
.W3 
1858 
Copy 1 



ADDRESS 



TO 



THE CITIZENS OT WASHINGTON 



ON THE 



CONDITION OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 



PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES: 

DECEMBER, 1858, 



ADDRESS 



THE CITIZENS OF WASHINGTON 



CONDITION OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 



December, 1858. 



The Committee appointed to prepare an address to the public in 
relation to the Public Schools submitted the following Report, which, 
having been read, was unanimously adopted ; and ten thousand copies 
thereof were ordered to be printed for distribution. 

JAMES G. BERRET, 
Mayor and Ex-qfficio President. 
Rob. Ricketts, Secretary. 



ADDRESS 



The Board of Trustees of the Public Schools of Washington beg 
leave to submit, for the consideration of their fellow- citizens, the fol- 
lowing brief statement of the present condition of the schools under 
their charge, with the view to a more general understanding of the 
wants and necessities of the system ; and to awaken, if possible, a 
spirit of generous co-operation and active sympathy with the cause of 
Public Education : in order that some prompt and effective measures 
for present relief and future advancement may be devised. 

Taking into consideration the many disadvantages under which our 
system of public instruction has labored from its adoption to the pre- 
sent time, it is matter of just surprise that it should have been able to 
continue its present organization, and to do as much as it has in dis- 
pensing the blessings of a common education to even a portion of our 
children. Depending entirely for support upon the generosity of the 
city government and the few thousands collected annually at the 
polls, it has silently increased, within a few years, from a mere shadow 
of a system into one of substance and importance, becoming in fact a 



2 ADDRESS. 

permanent element of our social and political organization ; and which 
we are hound, by every feeling of humanity and patriotism as well as 
by the true principles of Christian philanthropy, to cherish and ad- 
vance to the very highest degree of excellence. How can this be most 
effectually done, is the grave and important question which presents 
itself for consideration, and which every good citizen is now called 
upon to investigate and to solve. 

The extension of the system, so as to embrace all the advantages of 
our city's position as the seat of the General Government ; the pressing 
necessity for greater accommodation ; the want of a Superintendent 
of Public Instruction ; and, above all, the wretched condition of nearly 
all of our Public School rooms, absolutely demand the most prompt 
and energetic action. 

Public Education everywhere is, and must be, from its very nature, 
progressive. The further we advance it, the greater becomes the ne- 
cessity for increased facilities for its proper administration ; and we 
cannot pause in our efforts in its behalf, or voluntarily abandon so 
sacred a cause, without subjecting ourselves to all the evils arising 
from a want of education among the people, and the consequent pre- 
valence of crime and immorality. 

The cause of Public Education in the City of Washington has now 
reached a point from which it must either be advanced by some active 
measures of pecuniary relief, or it must, virtually, be abandoned and 
permitted to fall to ruin and decay ; for it can scarcely be said to do 
more than exist upon its present limited resources. Shall we advance 
it, or shall we abandon it ? Surely there can be no hesitation on the 
part of an enlightened community like ours in answering such a 
question as it only should be answered ; and it only remains for those 
intrusted with the grave and responsible duties of guardians of the 
Public Schools, to point out the wants of the system in order to 
obtain the necessary relief. The Board of Trustees, therefore, respect- 
fully submit : That there is not, at present, either rented from indi- 
viduals or owned by the city, a single school-room entirely suited for 
school purposes. 

Without entering into detail or argument to prove this assertion, 
it is simply necessary to state, that, with but two or three exceptions, 
the buildings now in use were not originally erected for school pur- 
poses, but were intended for almost every other object of civilization — 
such as market houses, stables, &c, &c. Many are in the basements 
of churches, damp, badly lighted, and imperfectly ventilated, and 
utterly without play grounds or suitable accommodations. 

Since the establishment of Public Schools in 1845, the appropriations 
for their support have never been sufficient to enable any of the 
various Boards of Trustees to remedy this evil, and they have, conse- 
quently, been obliged to content themselves with such rooms as they 
could get, no matter what might be their locality, appearance, or fit- 
ness for school purposes. To build, is entirely out of the question ; 
and the result is that scarcely 25 per cent, of the children in the city 
are now accommodated in public school-rooms. 

Wherever Public Schools have been established, it has been found 
necessary for the successful operation of the systems upon which they 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 3 

are conducted, that everything connected with them should be of a 
pleasing and attractive character, from the outward appearance of 
the school-house, to the most minute detail of the interior arrange- 
ments ; and it will be found, by an examination of the records of 
Public Education in other cities of our Kepublic, that the strictest 
attention is paid to the proper construction and arrangement of school- 
houses. In the Eeport of the City Superintendent of New York, 
December 31, 1856, in relation to the condition of the Public Schools, 
we find the following language : 

" Our numerous school edifices are, both externally and internally, 
with few and rapidly decreasing exceptions, spacious, commodious, 
tasteful, and pleasant ; furnished with every convenience requisite to 
the comfortable accommodation of all, and presenting every induce- 
ment to the most careful and considerate parent to place his children 
within their walls." 

After noticing the order and discipline of the schools, the solemni- 
ties observed daily in opening and closing them, the recesses, &c, he 
continues : " Thus pleasantly and happily the hours pass away in an 
atmosphere of love, kindness, and improvement ; and the acquisition 
of knowledge is accompanied by the formation of habits of order, in- 
dustry, punctuality, neatness, and mutual affection and regard. The 
school-room and its associations are rendered attractive and desirable 
to all ; most attractive and desirable to those who stand most in need 
of their elevating and refining influences, and who, but for this be- 
neficent agency, might never have known the blessings of a well- 
ordered and happy home, or participated in the inestimable advan- 
tages of a Christian education. " * * * * "Those only who 
have been familiar with the dreary and repulsive walls, the cheerless 
and desolate aspect, and the wearisome and monotonous routine of 
the schools of the olden time ; who have witnessed and sympathized 
with the protracted sufferings of the hapless little ones condemned 
to pass hours, days, and months of ill-concealed torture on the mis- 
erable apologies for benches without backs, and in rooms open to the 
rudest assaults of the wind and the tempest, * * * can adequately 
realize the important change which has been effected in these respects 
within the past few years, or fully appreciate the superiority and 
efficiency of our own system of instruction." 

Language similar to the above will be found in the yearly reports 
of every Superintendent or Board of Education throughout the 
country ; and its wisdom is acknowledged by the appropriation of 
munificent sums for the erection of buildings on the most approved 
plans, with a view to the greatest accommodation, health, comfort, 
and advancement of the children in their studies, and which are, at 
the same time, models of architecture in themselves, and monuments 
of a refined civilization. 

It may be assumed, then, as indispensable to the successful opera- 
tion of any system of Public Instruction, that the schools — and more 
especially the Primaries — should be placed in buildings constructed 
specially for the purpose, in order that the health and comfort of 
the children may be secured, and a proper system of discipline main- 
tained during the hours of study and of relaxation ; and, it may be 



4 ADDRESS. 

added, that it is also the imperative duty of every community to see 
that a sufficient number of such houses are* "built, so as to accommodate 
all its children whose education is not otherwise provided for. To 
educate a portion of our youth, and permit the rest to grow up in 
ignorance and vice, is unjust to ourselves and to posterity. The 
public welfare and the security of our institutions in the future, 
demand that every effort should he made on our part to educate our 
children, in order to prevent the fearful increase of crime, immorality, 
and degradation, which inevitably arise from idleness and a want of 
education ; and we shall be considered recreant to our duty, as good 
citizens and enlightened Christians, if we permit such a state of things 
to continue as is briefly shown in the following extracts from a 
memorial presented to Congress at its last session, 1857-'58 : 

u The number of children (in the city of Washington) between the 
ages of five and eighteen, is ten thousand six hundred and ninety-seven. 

u Three thousand three hundred and tiventy-eight of this number are 
in Private Schools. 

" Two thousand four hundred are in Public Schools. 

11 Five thousand and sixty-nine are in no Schools at all ! 

" The Public Schools cannot accommodate twenty-five per cent, of 
the number of children of the city." 

Well may it be said, in the words of the memorial, that u the simple 
statement of the above facts, carefully ascertained, sends its warning 
voice through all ranks of society, foretelling, with unerring certainty, 
the black catalogue of crime which ignorance will surely bring on this 
city as the thousands of uneducated youth develop into manhood." 

There is every reason, therefore, that the cause of Public Education 
in the city of Washington should be advanced now by the erection of 
suitable buildings, in appropriate localities, with play grounds 
attached, and capable, if needs be, of accommodating the whole of the 
ten thousand six hundred and ninety-seven children referred to in the 
memorial. 

There can be no excuse for evading any longer the question thus 
squarely presented for our serious consideration. On every hand we 
find, not only in the villages, towns, and cities of our own free and 
enlightened country — of which we should not forget that our 
city is the Metropolis — but even amidst the despotisms of the old 
world, under the very shadow of thrones and feudal palaces, the most 
encouraging examples of a liberal expenditure for the advancement 
of Public Education. That we should longer refuse to follow these 
examples, and continue to be satisfied with things as they are, simply 
appropriating, from the public revenue, a sum for the maintenance of 
the entire system scarcely equal to that appropriated elsewhere for sup- 
plies of books alone, would indicate a degree of culpable negligence 
and listless indifference to our best interests, entirely unworthy of a 
free and enlightened people. 

The following Tabular Statement is presented here as an evidence 
of the handsome manner in which the systems of other cities and 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 



towns are supported ; and it will be seen that the comparison is by 
no means favorable to our city. It shows the sum expended in each 
city for Public Schools, the assessed value of the property, and the 
amount of population. 

For its compilation,, the Board is mainly indebted to the worthy 
Principal of the Union Academy, and to public spirited officers and 
individuals in the cities named ; and for the data in relation to New 
Orleans, to a distinguished Professor of Louisiana, now connected with 
the Department of State. 



Baltimore, Md 

Boston, Mass 

Charleston, S. C... 

Chicago, 111 

Cincinnati, Ohio 

Cleveland, Ohio 

Detroit, Mich-. 

Lowell, Mass 

Lynn, Mass 

Memphis, Tenn 

Nashville, Tenn 

New Bedford, Mass 
New Haven, Conn. 

New York city 

Philadelphia 

Pittsburg, Penn. ._. 
Portland, Maine... 
Providence, R. I-_. 

Roxbury, Mass 

St. Louis, Mo 

Springfield, Mass... 
Washington, D. C. 
Wilmington, Del.. 
Worcester, Mass 



For Public 
Schools. 



$212, 
254. 
39, 
60, 
116, 
34, 
23, 
51, 
25, 
21, 
25, 
34. 
25, 
L,000, 
456, 
53, 
26, 
75, 
31, 
50, 
17, 
20, 
12, 
24, 



Real Estate. 



300 00 
588 00 i 
649 00 ! 
744 00 ! 
200 00 { 
615 00 ' 
611 60 
000 00 
432 00 
486 72 
000 00 
295 00 
388 60 
000 00 
089 00 
837 58 
152 59 
545 16 
738 00 
000 00 
000 00 
950 00 
789 20 
700 00 



$80, 
213, 
22, 
30, 
56, 
16, 
14, 

n, 

4, 

12, 
11, 
H, 
12, 



237,960 
310,067 
274,175 
175,325 
275,430 
498,202 
202,506 
866,919 
148,989 
000,000 
754,905 
489,266 
481,475 



155,260,000 
10,000,000 
12,617,929 
36,317,000 
13,613,731 
39,397,186 

6,375,453 
30,000,000 

6,865,486 
11,085,506 



Population. 



230,000 

160,000 

60,000 

125,000 

160,186 

41,196 

70,000 

37,553 

15,713 

17.589 

25, 000 

20,389 

28,143 

750,000 

500,000 

60,000 

28,418 

47,785 

18,477 

100,000 

13,788 

65,000 

20,000 

22,286 



The above statistics refer principally to 185*7, a few going back two 
or three years. They include, however, only the amounts appropriated 
for the current expenses of Public Schools, and do not embrace what is 
appropriated for neiv school buildings, &c, which item alone would, 
in many cases, increase the amount fifty per cent. 

The aggregate expense of Schools for the four Districts into which 
the city of New Orleans is divided, for the year 1850-'51, was 
$208,057, made up of the amount received from the State and the 
poll tax, $71,302, and the amount supplied by city taxation to the 
deficit, $136,755. This whole amount of $208,057, expended for the 
public education of 12,248 children, includes the payment of teachers, 
the rent of houses — where, in some of the wards, the Districts do not 
own them — the purchase of all books, stationery, fuel, and so forth. 

But, from this amount of $208,057 must be deducted some $27,000 
for the support of six High Schools in the 1st, 2d, and 4th Districts. 
Hence, gross amount expended for Common Schools in the four 



ADDRESS. 



Districts of the city of New Orleans $208,057 

Deduct for support of six High Schools 27,000 



Amount expended for Common School education $181,057 



As, however, the 400 attendants at the High Schools must he 
deducted from this exhibit, we have 11,848 children receiving Com- 
mon School education at an average cost for tuition, books, stationery, 
&c , of $15 per annum for each pupil. 

The data embraced in the two following tabular statements are 
copied from the 29th Annual Report of the Commissioners of Public 
Schools of the city of Baltimore, 1858. Those in relation to Wash- 
ington are added by way of comparison. The first shows the num- 
ber of pupils instructed in all the Public Schools of Philadelphia and 
Baltimore, the amounts expended for their instruction, with the cost 
per annum for each pupil ; the second, the cost of buildings for the 
use of Public Schools in the cities of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, 
and Baltimore. 

No. of Pupils. Cost for Tuition. Rate per Pupil. 

Philadelphia, 1850 54,383 $336,979 54 $7 42 

Baltimore, 1854 9,717 72,509 32 7 46 

Washington, 1857 2,414 13,950 00 5 78 

Cost of buildings in Boston $1,358,500 00 

New York 722,420 17 

Philadelphia 858,224 87 

Baltimore 140,458 98 

Washington 10,000 00 

As an instance of the manner in which the cause of Public Instruc- 
tion is fostered and protected in Europe, the following " Brief account 
of the national provision for education, in the little kingdom of 
Saxony," may be quoted from the " Sixteenth Annual Report of the 
Board of Education of the City of New York." 

ei Saxony has a population about half as large as that of the State 
of New York, and in territorial extent the whole kingdom is about 
one-third as large as that portion of our State north of the Mohawk 
river, and resembles that portion of the State in its rude, cold, and 
impracticable character. It is several degrees farther north than 
Quebec. It has one university, (Leipsic,) with eighty-five professors 
and one thousand students ; six academies of the arts and medicine, 
with forty-three professors and teachers, and fourteen hundred pupils ; 
eleven colleges, with fifteen hundred and ninety pupils ; six higher 
schools ; three special institutes for commerce and military affairs ; 
nine teachers' seminaries, with three hundred and sixty-two pupils ; 
seventeen higher industrial or technical schools, with seven hundred 
and seventy-nine pupils ; sixty-nine lower technical schools, with 
seven thousand pupils ; twenty-four schools for lace-making, with one 
thousand nine hundred and twenty-eight pupils ; and two thousand 
one hundred and fifty-five common schools, with two hundred and 
seventy-eight thousand pupils. There is no country in the world 
that makes so generous a provision for the various and useful educa- 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 7 

tion of all her people ; and those who visit Saxony see everywhere 
the evidence of the rich return for this outlay in the perfection and 
variety of her industrial productions, of useful and fine and orna- 
mental art, and in the good morals, good order, thrift, comfort, intel- 
ligence, and contentment of the universal people. 

" This remarkable educational prosperity is to be attributed, in a 
great degree, to the strict enforcement of the wise laws of a nation so 
enlightened. Each parent is, by law, obliged to send his children to 
school from their sixth to their fourteenth year. ' The Saxons/ 
says Mr. Kay, l consider the education of young children as a matter 
of primary importance, to which all else must be made to give way." 
The morality and the liberty, as well as the social and physical con- 
dition of the people, are all considered to be dependent on the early 
and full development of their moral and intellectual faculties ; and, 
since the revolution of 1848, the education in all the Primary Schools 
has been made perfectly gratuitous, so that every parent can send his 
children to any school, free of all expense, In that enlightened com- 
munity, education is considered in its true light — as a public want, 
and rated at its true value — as above all price. ' ' 

Thus it will be seen that everywhere else the most munificent pro- 
visions are made for the support and advancement of Public Education, 
and with the most gratifying results. It behooves us, therefore, as 
citizens of the metropolis of our country, to shake off the lethargy 
which oppresses us, and bestow all our energies upon a subject of so 
much importance to our present and future welfare. 

The manner of raising the revenue necessary for the erection of 
suitable buildings is a matter for public thought and discussion ; and 
the Board of Trustees simply present the subject for that purpose, 
with the suggestion that the question be discussed in ward or other 
meetings, in order that some general plan may be adopted to secure 
the end in view. One branch of the National Legislature has already 
passed a bill of relief, and there is every reason to hope for its success 
before the other ; but, unless seconded by our own united and earnest 
efforts, the benefits accruing to us from the final passage of this bill 
will be but partial; in calling upon Hercules for assistance, we should 
first put our own shoulder to the wheel. 

In presenting this address to their fellow-citizens, the Trustees are 
actuated solely by a sense of their official responsibilities as G-uardians 
of the interests of the Public Schools. They feel that it is indispen- 
sable, at this time, to urge upon their fellow-citizens the necessity 
for some prompt action in behalf of the cause of Public Instruction, 
and they seek to arouse them to a just appreciation of its advantages, 
and to induce them to take a greater interest in its objects. That the 
Schools are almost entirely neglected by the people, is evident from 
the fact, that it is a very rare thing to find parents or guardians visiting 
the schools in which their children are being educated. For this indif- 
ference to a matter of such momentous importance, it is difficult to 
account. 

For this apathy on the part of the people, the Trustees can have no 
remedy. They cannot force parents to do that which seems to be so 



8 ADDRESS. 

distasteful to them. They have, however, the consciousness of per- 
forming their duty in thus calling public attention to the subject ; 
and can only await the result of the investigation, which they feel 
assured it will receive from an enlightened community. 

JNO. D. BRANDT, 
R. B. IRONSIDE, 
M. H MILLER, 
S. YORKE AT LEE. 



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